Muse

If you could travel back through history, there are a few luxuries you'd probably miss immediately. Electric light, indoor plumbing, air conditioning, and somewhere on that list, the ability to control the temperature of your bed. Because for most of human history, if it was too hot to sleep, too bad. Today, we have a different problem. Distress, the screen time, the just one more headline spiral, it all raises your core body temperature. And a body that's too warm cannot get into a deep sleep. You're not just tired because the news is exhausting. You're tired because your body never actually recovered. The good news, and yes, there always is some, is that science has a real answer, and it's simpler than you'd think. Your bed temperature. Enter ChiliPad 2.0 by SleepMe, the water-based mattress topper that actively controls your bed temperature from 55 to 115 degrees all night long. No new mattress, no renovation. It fits over what you already have. And water is the key. Fans just move hot air around. ChiliPad uses actively chilled water to cool the bed, actually pulling heat away from your body. It's the difference between standing in front of a fan and jumping into a cold pool. If you told someone 100 years ago or 1,000 years ago that one day you'd be able to dial in the exact temperature of your bed every night, it would have sounded like science fiction. The new ChiliPad 2.0 comes with a redesigned dock that's quieter than ever. A washable performance-grade cover with waterproof protection, and my favorite feature, the nightstand remote. It detects when you get into bed and automatically starts your sleep schedule. You get in, it kicks on. Visit www.sleep.me to get up to $255 off your ChitleyPad 2.0 with code HISTORY. That's www.sleep.me to get up to $255 off your ChitleyPad 2.0. free shipping, free returns, and a 30-night trial, so you can test it out, dream big, and wake up better. The headlines will still be there in the morning. You might as well wake up ready for them. One of the things you realize making a history podcast is how much gets lost in translation. Every language carries its own worldview, its own jokes, idioms, rhythms. And when you learn another language, even a little bit, history suddenly feels more alive and more human. A lot of us have tried language learning before, maybe for travel, family, or just curiosity. But memorizing a few phrases isn't the same as actually being able to communicate. That's why Rosetta Stone's new app, Rosetta Stone Sapphire, is a game changer. Rosetta Stone has been a trusted leader in language learning for over 30 years, and Sapphire takes that immersion approach and makes it more personal and interactive. Instead of just generic lessons, you can focus on topics you actually care about

travel, food, sports, history, whatever keeps you motivated. And one feature I really like is the new chat missions, where you practice real-world conversations, like asking for directions or making plans with friends in a low-pressure setting with instant feedback to help you sound more natural. It feels less like homework and more like actually learning to use a language in real life. If you want to take your language skills to the next level, don't wait to try Rosetta Stone Sapphire. History This Week listeners can get 20% off their Rosetta Stone Sapphire subscription when they sign up today. You'll get unlimited access to all 25 Rosetta Stone languages, plus the all-new Sapphire learning tools. Visit rosettastone.com slash history this week to redeem your 20% off. That's rosettastone.com slash history this week, and start learning a new language for real.

The History Channel Original Podcast History This Week, June 8th, 1191 I'm Sally Helm. The Crusades have already been going on for nearly a century. Long ago, Pope Urban II called for Europe's Catholic people to retake the Holy Land from the Muslims, who he said are, quote, a race utterly alienated from God. And so, Europe's Catholic kings have complied. The next 90-odd years in the Middle East are violent. It's what's called the First Crusade. Europeans killed tens of thousands of Muslims and Jews while capturing Jerusalem and create crusader states to rule their newly captured territory, also a violent endeavor. Then, the second crusade The French and Germans want to expand their territory in the Holy Land But their armies are wiped out trying to capture Damascus in Syria The Arab world starts to unify And within a couple of decades, they have a leader of their own, Saladin. Saladin and his forces recapture Jerusalem in 1187, in a siege that lasts just a few days. The Europeans, humiliated, respond with the Third Crusade. And that is where we are today. The Crusaders and the Muslim forces are battling over the city of Acre on the Mediterranean coast. The European kings are trying to re-establish a foothold in the Holy Land, and Saladin is having none of it. His forces are dug in, their encampment a sea of iridescent, multicolored tents lining the hills around Acre. On the other side, an armada arrives. King Richard I has come from England to try and end this battle once and for all. And today, the king's arrival does rattle the Muslim forces. Richard's reputation precedes him. Some are already calling him Richard the Lionheart. But Saladin doesn't back down. A source from the Times says, the sultan took all things as they came with unmoved soul, relying on that god who always gives amply to the man who trusts in him. These two men, Richard and Saladin, will become the near-mythical faces on each side of the Crusades. At the time, they're each the most powerful military leader of their respective faiths, and they both believe that God is on their side. They never meet face-to-face, but they become the faces of this holy war, linked in history. But it is a history that gets largely forgotten for a very long time.

In the centuries that follow, the Crusades fade into something like fairy tales, mostly detached from any real historical fact. Kind of the way we think of pirates today. Then, over 600 years after Richard and Saladin face off at Acre, along comes a best-selling author who needs another hit. He has debts to pay. And out of all the stories he could tell, he returns to the past. Today, Walter Scott brings back the Crusades. How did a Scottish poet revive this religious war and turn it into an international phenomenon? And how did his underlying message get lost, warped, and then repurposed to justify even more violence? Walter Scott is a sickly child. He probably has polio. And so, he reads a lot. He reads Arabian Nights, a book of fantastical tales about the medieval Arab world. And he's also reading a fairy tale version of the Crusades.

He's reading these strange, wild, crazy romance epics.

Ian Duncan is an English professor at UC Berkeley. He's studied Walter Scott's life. And he says, the stories that have come down to a young Walter Scott are far removed from the violence of the real Crusades.

Enchanters, witches, magical events. The Crusades becomes the occasion for these fantastic encounters with these strange, magical, delirious other worlds.

Walter Scott eventually recovers from his illness. Entering adulthood, he's expected to become a lawyer like his father. And he does go to law school, but…

But Scott, you know, he passed his bar exam, but he tells stories in his autobiography about hiding romances in his law books and reading those instead.

Even years later, he can't shake that childhood fascination with these fabulous tales of a lost, fantastical world. And in his spare time, he decides to act on it. He starts roaming the Scottish countryside, writing down folk stories.

He spent a lot of time just riding around to remote communities, hearing people recite these ballads.

Tales like Thomas the Rhymer, who eats a magical apple that prevents him from ever telling a lie. The young Tamlein, where a boy gets taken prisoner by a fairy bound to serve hell. Scott starts publishing these stories as books, and people love them. A lot of these Scottish folktales had never been written down before. And soon enough, Scott starts writing some original folk stories. In 1805, he publishes The Lay of the Last Minstrel, a book-length poem involving romance, goblins, and wizards. It sells well. Then, Marmion, a tale of Floddenfield, about a morally dubious English knight. That nets him a thousand...

Guinea advance. The kinds of sums of money he was getting were unprecedented and huge.

Scott's books haven't had the staying power of, say, his contemporary Jane Austen, but that does not mean they haven't had an impact. Nobody reads these Scott poems anymore,

but their lines persist. Oh, what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive. That's

a couplet from Marmion, and there are many others. By the 1810s, Scott is one of Europe's best-selling authors. And with his newfound wealth, seemingly acting on those boyhood impulses,

he decides to build himself a castle. The place was originally called Cartley Hole, sometimes written clarty hole. It literally means dirty or muddy hole.

Originally, Scott says he's just building a cottage. In a letter to his friend, Lord Byron, he calls it a gardener's hut. But as the money keeps rolling in, it seems that he just can't help but expand his designs. His plans for it became ever more grandiose. A castle fit for one of his novels. While he is managing this construction, he is still writing. But by the 1820s, he decides to stop writing mock Scottish folktales. He's going to return to something else that he read about in his childhood. The Crusades.

If you could travel back through history, there are a few luxuries you'd probably miss immediately. Electric light, indoor plumbing, air conditioning, and somewhere on that list, the ability to control the temperature of your bed. Because for most of human history, if it was too hot to sleep, too bad. Today, we have a different problem. The stress, the screen time, the just one more headline spiral, it all raises your core body temperature. And a body that's too warm cannot get into a deep sleep. You're not just tired because the news is exhausting, you're tired because your body never actually recovered. The good news, and yes, there always is some, is that science has a real answer, and it's simpler than you'd think. Your bed temperature. Enter ChiliPad 2.0 by SleepMe, the water-based mattress topper that actively controls your bed temperature from 55 to 115 degrees all night long. No new mattress, no renovation. It fits over what you already have. And water is the key. Fans just move hot air around. ChiliPad uses actively chilled water to cool the bed, actually pulling heat away from your body. It's the difference between standing in front of a fan and jumping into a cold pool. If you told someone 100 years ago or a thousand years ago that one day you'd be able to dial in the exact temperature of your bed every night, it would have sounded like science fiction. The new ChiliPad 2.0 comes with a redesigned dock that's quieter than ever, a washable performance-grade cover with waterproof protection, and my favorite feature, the nightstand remote. It detects when you get into bed and automatically starts your sleep schedule. You get in, it kicks on. Visit www.sleep.me slash history to get up to $255 off your ChiliPad 2.0 with code history. That's www.sleep.me slash history. Free shipping, free returns, and a 30-night trial. So you can test it out, dream big, and wake up better. The headlines will still be there in the morning. You might as I'll wake up ready for them.

The Second World War is the largest event in human history. A 20-part series with Tom Hanks. No part of the globe was untouched. No life unchanged. Experience the ultimate account of World War II. Every single person had a story. These are the stories that make us who we are. Listen to World War II with Tom Hanks on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Living in a big city, grocery shopping can turn into a whole production. You realize halfway through that you've bought way more than you can actually carry home, and suddenly you're hauling heavy bags down the street, onto the subway, or up apartment stairs, wondering why you thought this was a good idea. That's one of the reasons I use Instacart all the time. I can open the app, order from stores I already know and like, choose the exact brands and groceries I want, and get delivery through Instacart in as fast as 30 minutes. And I really appreciate the quality side of it too. You can set preferences for produce, for placements, all those little details that actually matter when someone's selecting your groceries. Especially in the summer, it just gives you time back. Instead of losing half a Saturday running errands, I can focus on work, seeing friends, getting outside, whatever I actually want to be doing. And From a historical perspective, that's kind of crazy. For most of human history, getting food and household essentials consumed a huge part of everyday life. Entire routines revolved around carrying, transporting, preserving, or preparing just basic necessities. Anything that makes modern life a little easier, especially in a city, I'm grateful for. Instacart brings convenience, quality, and ease right to your door, so you can focus on what matters most. Download the Instacart app now and get groceries just how you like.

As a sickly boy, Walter Scott had loved the amazing, magical, mystical tales of the Crusades. Knights off on faraway adventures in the Middle East with magic armor and enchanting spells. But as an adult, Scott has read adult books. Books by historians of the Enlightenment, a movement of reason and logic. And those books do not glorify these bloody adventures in the Middle East.

The official historical understanding of the Crusades and what they mean is undergoing contest and revision as this sort of regrettable upsurge of, you know, destructive, primitive Christian fanaticism.

There's one Enlightenment author in particular, David Hume, who characterizes the Crusades this way. He calls them the most durable monument of human folly that has yet appeared in any age or nation. Basically, he's saying that the Crusaders were violent religious fanatics. Walter Scott is reading David Hume, and he's taking all this to heart. He absolutely agrees. The Crusades were a bad thing. But at the same time, he can't quite shake the stories he read as a kid. So when Walter Scott sits down to write, he has both of these ideas in mind. The magical knights and the real bloody story. These ideas are contradictory. The Crusades were bad, but also all that fighting and glory and chivalry and action? Kind of cool. The book that he writes is called Ivanhoe. The novel is set in the 1190s. During the Third Crusade, we meet the main character, a knight named Ivanhoe, after he's already fought in the Crusades under the legendary King Richard the Lionheart. Ivanhoe has to come back to England secretly because his father didn't approve of him fighting for Richard in the first place.

The novel opens with Ivanhoe's return in disguise. He's disguised as a pilgrim who's come back from the Holy Land, returning to his ancestral home and falling in with his series of adventures.

In the book's most famous scene, Ivanhoe fights in a good old-fashioned tournament, jousting, sword fights.

He's successful, but he's wounded. Effectively, he's out of action for the rest of the novel. He's flat on his back.

Ian Duncan says this is where we can see the other side of Scott's novel, that Enlightenment influence, upending the expectations for this kind of heroic knight's tale.

The protagonists of Scott's novels are brought to us not as these sort of swashbuckling, muscular, heroic figures, but as these rather mild-mannered, meek, empty, blank figures.

While Ivanhoe is laid up in bed, we hear more about the Crusades. We learn that he was at the Siege of Acre, fighting alongside Richard the Lionheart, who comes across as someone obsessed with glory.

The king is away on this rash adventure, which we get clearly the idea that it's either motivated by a kind of ideological fanaticism or by naked self-interest.

Scott writes about Richard, his feats of chivalry furnishing themes for bards and minstrels, but affording none of those solid benefits to his country on which history loves to pause.

The Crusades themselves, I think, are seen as this disastrous distraction from what should be the proper business of government and sovereignty.

One of the most revealing scenes comes when Ivanhoe gets into a debate with his nurse, a Jewish woman named Rebecca.

It's Rebecca who's the spokesman for a greater sort of proto-humanist sense of what a religious and ethical spirit can mean. She's much the most courageous and generous figure in the novel. She's, in that sense, more Christian than the Christians.

Rebecca asks, what remains to you as the prize of all the blood you have spilled? Ivanhoe replies, what remains? Glory, maiden, glory. Rebecca, glory, alas, is the rusted mail which hangs as a hatchment over the champion's dim and moldering tomb. Basically, Glory's not much use if you're dead. In the book, that lesson comes for Richard the Lionheart himself. After defeating Saladin, or ending in a stalemate, depending on who you ask, he returns to England.

It seems like we have the happy ending. The king is going to reclaim his kingdom.

But then he dies. In a pretty pointless way, which is what happened in real life too. He gets hit with a bolt from a crossbow while besieging a random castle in France. All that chivalry and heroism he sought ultimately leads to nothing.

Everything just comes undone. It comes apart.

It's all part of Scott's contradictory message. Woohoo! Crusades! But also, it was kind of meaningless violence. not only is the message contradictory but scott is also so good at writing the fun scenes about

knights i mean the whole tournament sequence is absolutely engrossing there's a new kind of immersive reading that scott's novels are making possible that it's as if we were actually seeing the splendid pomp and circumstance of the tournament and the battle it's all immensely

exciting. It's so exciting that Scott's readers, by and large, miss the message about the Crusades being misguided. They tend to just hear, knights are cool. And that's sort of what the novel gets turned into. In some cases, it literally gets turned into that simpler story. Because after the novel is published, it is so popular that other authors create their own versions. Stage adaptations, new novels, kind of like fan fiction, but they're different from the original. For one thing, the Knights Tournament becomes the central spectacle of the story. Scott, the narrator, keeps

intruding, often to remind us that there's real violence here, that this tournament actually is this really pointless, murderous exercise put on for no good reason. That all kind of gets edited out. The novel gets rewritten as a much more straightforwardly romantic romanticization of medieval England and, you know, knights jousting and the Crusades.

Scott wrote after seeing one stage adaptation, it was an opera. And of course, the story greatly mangled and the dialogue, in great part, nonsense. But all of this is happening because Ivanhoe is a hit. Walter Scott becomes an even bigger celebrity with an even bigger paycheck, which lets him keep building that castle, Abbotsford.

It was a sort of, you know, mortar and lime and stone version of some of his more fantastical novels, this invented pseudo-medieval castle.

The exterior features turrets, crosses, a huge iron and oak gate he copied from another castle. Inside, Scott calls it his museum for living in.

You collect stuff, bits of blanket from Rob Roy's kilt, a bottle of whiskey that Bonnie Prince Charlie took with him on his campaigns. It's this wonderful kind of compendium, as well as having this amazing library that he collected over his lifetime.

Abbotsford is designed to look like an old, wacky medieval castle, chock full of relics. But it also has modern touches. Gaslighting, a central heating system, pneumatic bells that connect Scott with his servants.

It was prodigiously expensive, and it eventually led to his downfall.

If you could travel back through history, there are a few luxuries you'd probably miss immediately. Electric light, indoor plumbing, air conditioning, and somewhere on that list, the ability to control the temperature of your bed. Because for most of human history, if it was too hot to sleep, too bad. Today, we have a different problem. The stress, the screen time, the just one more headline spiral, it all raises your core body temperature. And a body that's too warm cannot get into a deep sleep. You're not just tired because the news is exhausting, you're tired because your body never actually recovered. The good news, and yes there always is some, is that science has a real answer, and it's simpler than you'd think. Your bed temperature. Enter ChiliPad 2.0 by SleepMe, The water-based mattress topper that actively controls your bed temperature from 55 to 115 degrees all night long. No new mattress, no renovation. It fits over what you already have. And water is the key. Fans just move hot air around. ChiliPad uses actively chilled water to cool the bed, actually pulling heat away from your body. It's the difference between standing in front of a fan and jumping into a cold pool. If you told someone a hundred years ago, or a thousand years ago, that one day you'd be able to dial in the exact temperature of your bed every night, it would have sounded like science fiction. The new ChiliPad 2.0 comes with a redesigned dock that's quieter than ever.

a washable performance-grade cover with waterproof protection, and my favorite feature, the nightstand remote. It detects when you get into bed and automatically starts your sleep schedule. You get in, it kicks on. Visit www.sleep.me to get up to $255 off your ChiliPad 2.0 with code HISTORY. That's www.sleep.me. slash history. Free shipping, free returns, and a 30-night trial, so you can test it out, dream big, and wake up better. The headlines will still be there in the morning. You might as well wake up ready for them. Living in a big city, grocery shopping can turn into a whole production. You realize halfway through that you've bought way more than you can actually carry home, and suddenly you're hauling heavy bags down the street, onto the subway, or up apartment stairs, wondering why you thought this was a good idea. That's one of the reasons I use Instacart all the time. I can open the app, order from stores I already know and like, choose the exact brands and groceries I want, and get delivery through Instacart in as fast as 30 minutes. And I really appreciate the quality side of it too. You can set preferences for produce, for placements, all those little details that actually matter when someone's selecting your groceries. Especially in the summer, it just gives you time back. Instead of losing half a Saturday running errands, I can focus on work, seeing friends, getting outside, whatever I actually want to be doing. And from a historical perspective, that's kind of crazy. For most of human history, getting food and household essentials consumed a huge part of everyday life. Entire routines revolved around carrying, transporting, preserving, or preparing just basic necessities. Anything that makes modern life a little easier, especially in a city, I'm grateful for. Instacart brings convenience, quality, and ease right to your door, so you can focus on what matters most. Download the Instacart app now and get groceries just how you like. One of the things you realize making a history podcast is how much gets lost in translation. Every language carries its own worldview, its own jokes, idioms, rhythms. And when you learn another language, even a little bit, history suddenly feels more alive and more human. A lot of us have tried language learning before, maybe for travel, family, or just curiosity, but memorizing a few phrases isn't the same as actually being able to communicate. That's why Rosetta Stone's new app, Rosetta Stone Sapphire, is a game-changer. Rosetta Stone has been a trusted leader in language learning for over 30 years, and Sapphire takes that immersion approach and makes it more personal and interactive. Instead of just generic lessons, you can focus on topics you actually care about, Travel, food, sports, history, whatever keeps you motivated.

And one feature I really like is the new chat missions, where you practice real-world conversations, like asking for directions or making plans with friends in a low-pressure setting with instant feedback to help you sound more natural. It feels less like homework and more like actually learning to use a language in real life. If you want to take your language skills to the next level, don't wait to try Rosetta Stone Sapphire. History This Week listeners can get 20% off their Rosetta Stone Sapphire subscription when they sign up today. You'll get unlimited access to all 25 Rosetta Stone languages, plus the all-new Sapphire learning tools. Visit rosettastone.com slash history this week to redeem your 20% off. That's rosettastone.com slash history this week, and start learning a new language for real.

By 1825, Walter Scott is a hugely successful author. His books are the bestsellers of their time. He dominates the literary market of the English-speaking world. But also, Scott knows that people aren't fully understanding his message about the Crusades. That they aren't seeing how these wars were reckless. And on the one hand, he still wants to get that message across. On the other hand, it's great that the books are selling because he needs the money for his fantastical castle at Abbotsford. In 1825, he publishes another book, The Talisman. In it, he pulls a version of the same move again.

The Talisman is set in Palestine and it's kind of an amazing novel. It completely, I think, much more radically than Ivanhoe, dismantles this myth of the Crusades as a heroic Christian adventure.

Scott has never been to the Holy Land, but he read Arabian Nights as a kid. That's good enough for him. This story takes place in the Middle East, during the actual Crusades. But despite the bloody setting, in classic Walter Scott fashion, the book is pretty good.

pretty fun. The novel is hilarious. I mean, it has its tongue very much in its cheek for much of the time. Its true sort of descendant would be something like Monty Python and the Holy Grail

in its sort of sense of absurd humor. In this book, Richard the Lionheart is sick with some kind of fever. Again, we have a main character laid up in bed. Until, that is, he's approached by a mysterious Muslim physician named El Hakim who bears a mysterious stone. The talisman, which

it's sort of semi-magical. You put it in the water and it restores you. It's all rather mysterious.

El-Hakim heals King Richard with the talisman. Scott is indulging in his childlike love of magical stories, but he is also trying to upend the prevailing European mindset about the Crusades. That mindset says the Christians were chivalrous and the Arabs were barbarians. But here, it's a Muslim man who heals the crusader. And that point really gets driven home when it's revealed that al-Hakim is in fact the great Saladin, the leader of the Muslim forces,

in disguise. Saladin is this figure of perfect chivalric generosity.

Later in the book, Saladin and Richard compete in a trial of strength.

Richard takes up his huge two-handed sword and he hacks an anvil in half, to show how strong he is. And Saladin throws a cushion in the air and slices it with a scimitar. So oriental grace and delicacy come across as much more efficacious than sort of brute, armored, western, you know, brute strength.

Again, subverting the expectation. Saladin ends up being the hero of the story. With The Talisman, Scott has once again written a bestseller. But also, once again, the nuance doesn't really land.

Reviewers at the time complain, you know, here's a novel about the Crusades, but Scott doesn't follow through on it. There's no great battle in which the Christians slaughter their enemies.

They don't seem to see that that is the whole point.

Again, I think it's easy just to read it for the adventure and overlook what's actually being said.

The success of The Talisman allows Walter Scott to continue adding to his castle at Abbotsford, a conservatory, an armory. But then, Walter Scott lets his own dreams of grandeur run away from him. He's been buying a lot of this on credit. And at the end of 1825, it all comes crashing down. The British economy collapses. His creditors come knocking. He doesn't have the money.

So he sort of wakes up to find out he's been ruined.

He owes around £120,000. pounds. In today's money, that is something like 18 million dollars. Declaring bankruptcy is probably the rational move, but he doesn't want to do that. He rejects the option of declaring

bankruptcy partly because of reasons of social class. That's what tradesmen do. That's ignoble.

I am a gentleman. If one of his characters did this, held on to some antiquated idea about chivalry or honor, Walter Scott might have made fun of them. But this time, instead, he says,

I will repay the full debt with the labor of my pen. Walter Scott goes into overdrive. He's writing like a madman to repay all his creditors in full. He re-releases his novels

in cheaper editions that more people can buy. And it actually sort of works. So he makes all his money, but it eventually, it kills him. The whole escapade ruins his health. And within six years, Walter Scott is dead. But he has unleashed something. After his death, the popularity of the Crusades as an idea, it continues to grow. And his pointed criticism gets well and truly lost. Starting in the 1830s, European powers begin to turn back to the Crusader era as an expression of their cultural character, a kind of nationalist symbol. It's not just a return to

the Crusades, but the whole chivalric Middle Ages in general and the sort of gothicization of

national identity. Gothic architecture was the style at the time of the Crusades. That comes back. And the effects are really all over. New works of fiction,

new revisionist histories, museum exhibit statues. In the Middle East, the Crusades

also re-emerge as a touchstone, and Saladin as a cultural figure. And back in Europe, things continue to snowball. The French king Louis-Philippe unveils something called the Hall of the Crusades. It's meant to bolster France's colonial project as they expand their empire. In Great Britain, crusader and medieval-era nostalgia permeates the very seat of power.

The Houses of Parliament.

burned down and they're rebuilt in this kind of gothic style. Up north in Scotland, Scott's

influence leads to what is arguably the predecessor of today's renaissance fairs. Yeah, some lord,

Lord Eglinton, has all his friends dress up and apparently a lot of these things, they stage mock tournaments and things both in England and in the southern states. Yeah,

the southern states of the United States. In the years leading up to the Civil War, medieval tournaments become a big thing in the South, where Scott's tales of knights, white knights fighting non-white Arabs, take hold. Mark Twain comes up with a name for this phenomenon. He calls it Sir Walter Disease.

Twain famously blames Scott for the American Civil War. He says that this was the kind of ideological fuel for the Confederacy, that the young Southern gentleman read Ivanhoe in these Scott novels, And in Bude, he talks about what he calls, I think, the sham civilization of Walter Scott. For him, it's all this big, elaborate, seductive fakery that the young Southern gentleman read and internalized.

In these Southern jousting tournaments, you might have seen some of the future founding members of the Ku Klux Klan. The medieval spectacle ends up shaping the KKK in real ways. the horses, the knight-coded language, even the practice of burning crosses is traced back to Scott's The Lady of the Lake. The Crusades permanently re-enter mass pop culture and politics, largely because of Walter Scott. In the 20th century, they become a way to talk about conflict between Western countries and countries in the Middle East.

clash-of-civilizations rhetoric, right, that came up particularly after 2001.

This crusade, this war on terrorism, is going to take a while, and the American people must be patient.

And it's interesting that that's not what we find when we go back to Scott, right? The Scott Crusader novels, both The Talisman and Ivanhoe, insist on this kind of complex, you know, dialogue, cultural interaction where both sides are taking something from each other. And if there are any clashes or conflicts, they're kind of internal within the civilizations in question. It's not these two monoliths crashing against each other. And that just disappears.

Duncan says you can find this crusader mindset, West versus East, Christian versus Muslim, used by both terror groups in the Middle East and far-right forces in the U.S. ISIS, called American wars in the Middle East a failed crusade. At the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017, white nationalists carried shields with deus volt, the crusader slogan, God wills it, in Latin, written across them.

It's hard not to think of these invocations as, to some extent, in bad faith. They either seem to be these very crude instrumental readings of the past as a kind of blunt weapon that just can be wielded for a certain cause. Those who are not with us must be against us, that sort of rhetoric.

Now, that imagery has started to break into mainstream politics. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has tattoos of Crusader symbols, including Deus Vult on his arm. He was sworn into office on a Bible with Crusader symbols embossed on the cover. In March 2026, Tennessee Congressman Andy Ogles posted an AI-generated video of himself and government officials dressed as crusaders in front of the U.S. Capitol. It's hard to predict sometimes how an individual artist will ripple through history. But it is safe to say that that is not something Walter Scott, now interred in Scotland beneath the ruins of a Gothic abbey, ever had in mind. Thanks for listening to History This Week, a Backpocket Studios production in partnership with The History Channel. To stay updated on all things History This Week, sign up at historythisweekpodcast.com. And if you have any thoughts or questions, send us an email at historythisweekathistory.com. Special thanks to our guest, Ian Duncan, professor of English at the University of California, Berkeley, and author of Scott's Shadow, the novel in romantic Edinburgh. You can find links to that and all the other books we used to put this episode together at our website, historythisweek.com. This episode was produced by Ben Dickstein and by me, Sally Helm. It was sound designed by Dan Rosato. For Backpocket Studios, our executive producer is Ben Dickstein. From the History Channel, our executive producers are Eli Lehrer and Liv Fiddler. Don't forget to follow... rate, and review History This Week wherever you get your podcasts. And we'll see you next week.